#ShaadiDiaries: Decorators To Caterers, Meet My Dream Vendors!

A  life + style blogger, a Bollywood addict, a home baker, an army brat who loves Indian weddings and a true Punjabi, Devina from Guilty Bytes is all set to get married this November. And the pretty bride-to-be will be sharing all the little details of her bridal journey with us! Here’s the sixth post from her #ShaadiDiaries. Click here for the previous post on shopping for her mom and sister!

In every wedding, it is the various vendors who help the bride and groom turn their wedding dreams to reality. For me, it’s been a fantastic journey of discovering new brands, the latest wedding trends, learning how to handle finances and spending hours and hours on Pinterest and POPxo Wedding to freeze on the right people to work with.

With so many different options available, it can be difficult to know where to even start. But what really helped me find the right people, was going through real weddings online, touching base with vendors through review forums and locking on our budgets timely. I started my homework with my family by working on a ballpark budget in advance. Setting up budgets gives you a lot of clarity about planning the wedding and also helps during the negotiation process. Here is the list of people that I will be working with to make my dream wedding come true.

Also read: #ShaadiDiaries: What I Learnt From My Bridal Lehenga Fitting!

Mehendi ceremony

For my mehendi, I have finalized my outfit from Abhinav Mishra at Shahpurjat. I have decided to give gota jewellery a miss and will be wearing beautiful pearls by Zariin along with some real flowers. Juttis from Needledust will complete my look.

Image: Abhinav Mishra on Instagram

The venue happens to be the Trident Officer’s Mess at Delhi Cantt and Paradise caterers and decorators who are based out of South Delhi will take care of the food and decor for the mehendi as well as the wedding. I used my Pinterest inspiration boards to create themes for all the functions and shared it with the decorators. Researching on internet is free of cost and will help you refine the design while also giving you more and more ideas about what’s trending across the globe.

The super talented team of Grace Productions will take over the photography and videography for all the days. We are going to take a mix of traditional, candid and cinematography especially when it comes to the videos. For inspiration, I have curated and shared with their team some must have bridal shots from Instagram and POPxo stories.

My makeup and hair is being done by the good folks at F Salon, Rajouri Garden. I have already shortlisted the hairstyle and the eye makeup that I want for the mehendi ceremony.  

Engagement & cocktails

My engagement happens on the same day as the mehendi and is followed by cocktails in the evening. I shall be wearing a beautiful saree gown by Dheeru & Nitika who are based out of Saket. Since the outfit itself is super grand, I am going to keep the jewellery minimal. A pair of beautiful earrings that I picked up from the Bridal Asia exhibition will complete my look. The hair and makeup will be done by Alok, a freelance artist who has been associated with MAC and a couple of other biggies. He also happens to be my wedding MUA (Makeup Artist).

The team at Moets, Defence Colony, will do the decorations and catering for our engagement and cocktail.  

Also read: #ShaadiDiaries: Shopping For The Bride’s Mom & Sister…

The Wedding!

We have decided to use a lot of gold hues for the wedding décor. As mentioned above, the team of Paradise will be taking care of this.

Image: Frontier Raas on Instagram

If you’ve read my previous posts you would already know that my dream gota patti lehenga is being custom made from Frontier Raas, South Ex. I will be wearing red Needledust juttis that are super pretty and extremely comfortable! We’ve bought a gorgeous polki set from Mehrasons & Jewelers for the wedding and I will also be wearing a nath and maangtika in traditional dogri style. I also picked up this stunning haath phool from Raabta by Rahul to wear on the wedding day.

Here are some things that I learnt while finding the right vendors.

1. It’s important to get along with your vendor on a personal level and share a mutual cordial relationship. After all you’ll be entrusting them with a significant service and not to forget the substantial monetary costs involved.

2. It’s important to meet face-to-face as reading a potential vendor’s body language will give you a better sense of how he/ she is as a professional.

3. Pay importance to other brides’ testimonials if you have finalized someone and do get reviews from your friend and acquaintances who may have worked with them.

4. Don’t be afraid to negotiate and make sure to haggle hard and get the best deal possible!

Next Week: Makeup Trials & Face Charts Of Final Looks!

Featured Image: Sunflare Arthouse